The fate of the tormented thinker, Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600), was dictated by a difficult religious context, which was marked by the incessant hunt for heretics and the general idea that scientific and philosophical reflection should only serve theology.

Bruno, a visionary genius, clashed with the Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran religions, as well as the humanist defenders of Aristotelianism and the scientists whom he confronted with his idea of infinite worlds.

As a representative of the hermetic philosophy, Bruno also belonged to the esoteric and magic-inspired literary movement initiated by Marsile Ficin (The Three Books on Life) and supported by Corneille Agrippa (The Occult Philosophy) or Pic de la Mirandole. The 15th century was therefore witness to the rebirth of Hermes and the ancient texts, talismanic art, natural magic and the mysticism of the Hebraic cabala on which Bruno focused at the end of his life. The ancient treatises on magic, including the Picatrix, were extremely popular and constituted a source of inspiration for the thinkers of the Renaissance, who incorporated esoterism into their philosophy.

The revival of occultism gave the Church a lot to worry about, seeing that its traditional framework was gradually being reduced to dust at the very time when its intolerance for the new scientific and philosophical theories was at its height. It should not be forgotten that this was the era in which the Counter-Reformation was sweeping through Europe and was looking for a strict redefinition of the dogma in order to counter the massive advance of the new spiritualities. It is easy to understand why any element with the potential to bring down the world that the Church was trying to build was immediately denounced as heretical. Consequently, the Church sought to limit philosophical thinking and rose up against scientific progress not in line with the idea of nature according to the Holy Scriptures.

It was in this transitional setting between Catholic tradition and intellectual, artistic and scientific revival that Giordano Bruno spent his entire life trying to have his ideas recognised. Bruno, an unwitting agitator, caused such a stir and so much concern that his fate was to be that of a hounded and misunderstood vagabond. He wandered Europe for 16 years before his fatal encounter with the stake on 17 February 1600, marking the death of the renegade philosopher.

Filipo Bruno was born into a modest Nolan family. He studied in Naples before entering the Dominican monastery of San Domenico di Maggiore in 1565, where he received a humanist education and became familiar with rhetoric, dialectics, natural philosophy and metaphysics.

As from 1566, Bruno began to incur the wrath of his peers, who accused him of supporting anti-Trinitarian arguments during a debate against Arianism. Initially ordained subdeacon and then deacon, he obtained priesthood in 1573 under the Christian name of Giordano. A graduate in theology, he presented a thesis on the thought of St Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard in 1572. Under the title of The Candlebearer, he wrote a satirical play on the monastic world in which he lived, though the work has since been lost.

His unbridled curiosity for all sciences and philosophies enabled him to fill in the gaps of his humanist education by studying such controversial subjects as hermetism, magic and cosmology. His interest for Erasmus, branded a heretic, and his criticism of the dogma obliged Bruno to leave the habit before being confronted with the accusations of friar Montalcino Domenico Vita.

From Genoa to Venice via Noli, Savone, Turin, Padua and Brescio, Bruno spent two years travelling around his native soil before going into exile in Chambéry, where he stayed a few months with the Dominican friars before heading off to Geneva.

A - Geneva

A new life complete with a new spirituality seemed to open up to the philosopher. As an unfrocked monk, he converted to Calvinism and enrolled as a student at the city's university. He attended the lectures given by Antoine de La Faye, a professor of philosophy teaching Aristotle, whose incompetence he quickly denounced by way of a pamphlet. Once again in conflict with the Genevan hierarchy, Bruno was arrested and excommunicated on 6 August 1579.

Bruno passed through Lyon on his way to Toulouse, where he taught astronomy and philosophy at the local university. He opposed the Portuguese philosopher, Fransisco Sanchez, by denouncing his empirical approach. He published his first work on mnemotechnics, which drew the attention of Henri III. He was summoned to Paris and taken under the king's wing. He stayed there for five years as a lecturer at the Royal College of Lecturers. During this period, the philosopher devoted himself fully to the art of memory with the publication in 1582 of De Umbris Idearum, a work with strong hermetic connotations, dedicated to Henri III.
But the context of religious tension sweeping the country cost him the animosity of the league members and Protestants. Refusing to take sides in the dispute, he was denounced by his contemporaries. Faced with such a hostile climate, he left for England, armed with a royal letter of recommendation.

Taken in by the French ambassador, Michel de Castelnau, in the Butcher Row area, the philosopher led a gentleman's lifestyle until his encounter with the Oxford dons. George Abbot, a fellow of Balliol College who later accused the philosopher of plagiarising Marsile Ficin, organised a public debate during which the academics were outraged by Bruno's support of Copernicus's heliocentrism. Appalled by this new hostility, the philosopher reacted by personally devoting his time and energy to his works. But on 7 February 1584, thinking that he would have the opportunity of a reconciliation with his detractors, he fell into the trap set by Fulke Greville during the meeting organised at his place with two Oxford dons on Ash Wednesday. Bruno was delighted to finally have chance to expose his theory on cosmology, but unfortunately found himself confronted with the aggressiveness of Nundinio and Torquado, who promptly took their leave, leaving Bruno on his own.

His stay in England was particularly productive in terms of publications. He was attacked on several occasions due to his ideas and always used his pen to express his indignation and counter the attacks. The publications followed in quick succession, including The Ash Wednesday Supper, in which he defends his version of Copernicus's heliocentrism, On Cause, Principle and Unity, in which he takes a stand against Protestantism, On The Infinite Universe and Worlds, in which he exposes his ideas on the infinity of the universe and multiple worlds, The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast, which represented a sort of moral and religious reform, The Cabala of Pegasus, an overview of his ideas in terms of cosmology, and finally  On Heroic Frenzies, a formidable mosaic of his philosophical aspirations.

Upon his return to Paris in 1585, he defended 120 anti-Aristotelian theses at the Collège de France, provoking the disappointment of his public, including the advocate Raoul Callier, who brusquely challenged such slanderous views. The climate became increasingly dangerous for Bruno, who subsequently lost the support of the Italian community in the Mordente affair. Mordente, a geophysicist who invented the differential-gear compass, accused Bruno of plagiarising his instrument. The King of France, who until then had protected Bruno, also abandoned him. Deprived of all support, he fled France and headed for Germany.

After a brief visit to the university of Marburg, to which the rector Petrus Nigidus forbade him access, Bruno moved onto Wittenberg, where he lectured on Aristotle's works for two years. His continuing controversial attitude and his ideas on infinite worlds earned him the hostility of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.

He left Germany and spent six months in Prague, land of the alchemists. His stay at the court of Rudolph II, the patron of astrologers and alchemists for the whole of Europe, marked a major change in the philosopher's thoughts, who resolutely turned towards magic and hermetism. Prague represented the ideal place for expressing occultist trends, given that the emperor nurtured the hope of finding the philosopher's stone by surrounding himself with the most eminent specialists in hermetism and esoterism. Bruno therefore dedicated a treatise against mathematics to the emperor, for which he received a small tribute, but no employment.

He therefore set off for the town of Helmstedt in 1588 where he registered at the Academia Julia. It did not take long before he had a run-in with the pastor and superintendent of the Lutheran church, Gilbert Voët. He had just enough time to pen three treatises on magic, including De Magia, which explains the way to become associates of the demons and the magical dimension of the imagination, before being excommunicated again, following which he sought refuge at the monastery of the Carmelites of Frankfurt, despite his expulsion order.

In 1591, Giovanni Mocenigo, a Venetian patrician, invited Bruno to come and teach him the magic art of mnemotechnics. Hesitant at first, Bruno finally went to Venice, where he hoped to be appointed to the chair of Mathematics at the university of Padua. His hopes quickly went up in smoke. Consequently, the philosopher took leave of his host and headed back to Frankfurt. Disappointed by his teaching and doubtful about Bruno's orthodoxy, Mocenigo denounced him to the Inquisition. On 23 May 1592, he was arrested and transferred to San Domenico di Castello prison.

Giordano's trial lasted almost eight years, marked by several about-turns. The Inquisition initially accused him for his anti-dogmatic ideals, which had already cost him his Dominican habit. As an anti-Trinitarian, the philosopher rejected the virginity of Mary and transubstantiation. His reflections in terms of cosmology, his rejection of geocentrism and his attraction for magic gradually gave rise to an impressive list of accusations. In the end, it was the whole of his freethinking that was challenged.

It seems that the first charge levelled against Bruno was his astronomical conception, since it did not correspond to the Scriptures and threatened the religious balance. As it represented the basis of all his philosophical principles, Bruno could not recant that, which in his opinion, had no relation to the dogma.

Providing his own defence, the philosopher proclaimed his incapability in terms of theology to whoever would listen:
"The contents of my books are generally philosophical and I have always spoken as a philosopher according to the natural light, without giving any thought to what the faith orders us to admit". On 30 July 1592, he retracted a few words that he admitted were ambiguous before his case was referred to Rome at the request of the Grand Inquisitor, Cardinal S. Severina.

Negotiations were held between Rome and Venice, the latter not really wanting to transfer the philosopher. In February 1593, Bruno was incarcerated in the prisons of the Holy Office. The overwhelming evidence of his fellow prisoners, the Capuchin friar Celestino Da Verona, Matteo De Silvestris Da Orio and Francesco Graziano Da Udine, added weight to the accusations of the Tribunal of the Inquisition. They allegedly reported that Bruno saw Moses' miracles as being the expertise of a great Magus whose art had been passed on by the Egyptians. Bruno's situation became more and more precarious.

Even so, the trial dragged on for another two years before the decision was taken to conduct an in-depth study of his works, which were censured and subsequently burned at St Peter's Square. From the depths of his cell, Bruno finished writing a statement for his defence and presented his final plea on 20 December 1594 before the Holy Office.

The trial was interrupted for six months, during which time Bruno continued to actively defend his theory on infinite worlds, sometimes stating that he was ready to recant, and at other times declaring that he was faithful to his ideas.

Cardinal Bellarmin therefore drew up a list of the theories deemed to be heretical, over which Bruno again hesitated before categorically refusing to renounce his doctrine: "I fear nothing and retract nothing, there is nothing to retract and I know not what I would have to retract". The eight propositions that the philosopher refused to renounce were as follows: